Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain - Africa

Distinguished Lecture Series with Denis Wolowiecki
2022-12-08
Thinking Beyond Procurement
Denis Wolowiecki
Executive Managing Director, CAPS Research
Register: https://bit.ly/DLS122022
Speaker Biography:
Denis M. Wolowiecki is executive managing director of CAPS Research, a nonprofit research center for supply management leaders. He has more than 25 years of cross-industry supply management experience as an executive, as well as the savvy of consultancies and a deep understanding of driving transformational improvements.
Prior to joining CAPS, Wolowiecki held executive supply chain and sourcing positions with Vitalant, Husqvarna Group, Aleris International, Inc., and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. He also offers more than a decade of supply chain consulting knowledge, having worked with Accenture and KPMG following initial career experiences as an aerospace systems engineer.
Wolowiecki holds an MBA focused in operations and international business from Kent State University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Ohio Northern University.

CARISCA Training Series - Writing for News Outlets
2023-01-24
About the event:
Knowing how to write for nonacademic audiences is a key skill for researchers who want to have an impact beyond professional journals. Industry, institutions, policymakers, the general public and other stakeholders need research findings communicated in simple terms to aid them in decision-making.
Being able to appeal to a larger audience beyond the academic community has other benefits as well. Representing your own research for general readers is the best way to clarify any controversies around your work. Researchers who are skilled at translating their work for a lay audience tend to gain research funds and consultancy opportunities, establish an online presence and increase their number of citations.
In this workshop, you will learn the nuances involved in writing for new outlets as one avenue for making your research relevant to non-academics, especially within the African context. The training will cover how to craft your article title, opening paragraph, the main body, conclusion and, most importantly, the language.

About the presenter:

Seth Krampah is a financial and economic journalist. He is currently the regional editor and manager of Business & Financial Times newspaper, Ghana’s leading provider of business, financial and economic information. Krampah is in charge of the Ashanti, Bono & Ahafo Regions.
He holds a diploma in communication studies from the Ghana Institute of Journalism, a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and information studies from the University of Ghana and a Master of Science in marketing from Kwame Nkrumah University Science & Technology.
Register Now

Distinguished Lecture Series
2023-02-09 17:00 - 18:30 UTC
Seaports and African Trade: the Role of Ports in Africa’s Economic Growth
Africa’s port infrastructure presents both challenges and opportunities for the development of trade. Among the key challenges is congestion, which was an issue on the continent long before the COVID-19 era. Another is the need for investment and technological advances to support mega shipping vessels.
On Feb. 9, Frank Ojadi from the Lagos Business School faculty will talk about the latest paradigm shifts in ports globally and the role ports are now playing to enhance trade. He will address why ports in other areas of the world play a much more important role than they do in Africa.
In his presentation, part of CARISCA’s Distinguished Lecture Series, Ojadi will first look at the fundamentals and history of port development in Africa. He will cover the early growth period and the role ports have traditionally played in African trade. He also will offer insights with respect to colonial-era port development on the continent.
Ojadi will look at the challenges African ports need to overcome to make supply chains on the continent more efficient. This issue is especially urgent considering the rollout of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is hindered by current port infrastructure.
Other key questions the presentation will address include: How can African ports help support regional growth? How can the proper development of African ports support the hinterland regions? How can sustainability be addressed through port infrastructure?
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From the editor’s perspective: Writing for non-academic audiences
2023-02-21 16:00 - 18:00
Register Here

Knowing how to write for nonacademic audiences is a key skill for researchers who want to have an impact beyond professional journals. Industry, institutions, policymakers, the general public and other stakeholders need research findings communicated in simple terms to aid them in decision making.
Being able to appeal to a larger audience beyond the academic community has other benefits as well. Researchers who are skilled at translating their work for a lay audience tend to gain research funds and consultancy opportunities, establish an online presence and increase their number of citations.
Representing your own research for general readers also is the best way to clarify any controversies around your work.
This training on how to write for a non-academic audience will cover the kind of information that is useful for practitioners, how to structure a non-academic article and keeping an article interesting for practitioner readers.
Key questions the training will answer include:

What is the typical structure of a non-academic article?
What do editors look for in this type of writing?
How does this type of writing differ from an academic paper?
How important are graphs and other visual elements and how should they be used?
What findings are of interest to practitioners as opposed to academics?

About the presenter:

Bob Trebilcock has been a magazine writer and editor since 1980. His work has appeared in magazines as diverse as Sports Illustrated and Reader’s Digest. For nearly 20 years, he was a consumer and personal finance writer for Good Housekeeping magazine, as well as Yahoo Finance and CBS MoneyWatch.
He has covered the materials handling and supply chain management fields for nearly 40 years, serving as the executive editor of Modern Materials Handling since 2009 and the editorial director of Supply Chain Management Review from 2013 to 2022. He is also responsible for producing the NextGen Supply Chain Conference, an annual event focused on emerging technologies for senior level supply chain managers.

CARISCA Training Series - “Selecting a Research Design”
2023-03-21
The goal of research is to answer questions. Good questions, however, are just the beginning. The second step is how to answer them. With the growth in the number and complexity of research designs and methods, it can be challenging to know how to select the best research design.
Whether you are an academic or applied researcher, you should have many tools in your research toolbox. A full toolbox will enable you to design the best study possible to answer your questions.
This training session will create and increase awareness about how to design a research study using three real-world examples: a qualitative/quantitative mixed analysis, a full qualitative longitudinal piece, and a conceptual piece.
About the presenter:

Glenn Richey is the Harbert Eminent Scholar in supply chain management, chair of the department of supply chain management, and research director in the Center for Supply Chain Innovation at Auburn University in Alabama.
He has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and won numerous awards for his research. Included among these are the Cavusgil Award for the best contribution to international marketing in Journal of International Marketing and the LaLonde award for best contribution in supply chain management and logistics in the Journal of Business Logistics.
Richey currently is editor-in-chief at Journal of Business Logistics and an associate editor at the Journal of Supply Chain Management. In 2013, he received Emerald Publishing’s Leading Editor Award as co-editor of the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management.
He has taught across six continents as a visiting professor and research associate at many universities, including BEM Dakar in Senegal and Mediterranean School of Business in Tunisia.

Faculty Workshop - “Experimental Research Designs in Supply Chain”
2023-04-03 - 2023-04-04
On April 3-4, CARISCA will host its biannual capacity-building workshop for faculty and students at KNUST and other higher education institutions in Africa.

On April 3–4, CARISCA will host its second faculty workshop of the academic year to strengthen the research capacity of faculty and graduate students at KNUST and other higher education institutions in Africa. The workshop will be held in a hybrid format, both in person at KNUST in Kumasi, Ghana, and via Zoom.
The goal of these workshops is to provide faculty with new tools for understanding the intricacies of global supply chains and finding ways to improve their efficiency. The April workshop seeks to help participants diversify their research methodology approaches to reflect current trends in the field and reduce the over-reliance on survey designs.
Mahyar Eftekhar, an associate professor of supply chain management at Arizona State University, will lead the workshop. He will expose participants to experimental research designs in supply chains, including examples of classical and field experiments.
The first day of the workshop will feature presentation and Q&A sessions. On the second day, participants will apply the concepts learned the day before. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own research questions to explore the possibility of using experimental research designs to carry out their study.
About the presenter:

Mahyar Eftekhar is an associate professor of supply chain management at ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business. He also serves as a senior editor for Production and Operations Management.
Eftekhar’s studies focus on nonprofit operations management, humanitarian logistics and global health. His research formulates decision models that incorporate multiple sources of uncertainty, analyzes the impact of features of humanitarian logistics on relief capacity, and develops tools to cultivate humanitarian logistics resilience.
He has been published in the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and Decision Sciences. In 2019, Eftekhar won the Best Paper Award from the POMS College of Humanitarian Operations and Crisis Management.
He also has won young faculty and early career awards, as well as the Outstanding Dissertation Award from Decision Sciences Institute. Eftekhar holds a Ph.D. in management science from HEC Paris.

Advisory Board meeting
2023-04-12

CARISCA Training Series - Crafting a Pitch for a Trade Journal
2023-04-18
You have conducted your research and now comes the hard part—getting published. While publishing in academic journals is critical for advancing knowledge, getting your research published in a trade journal will expand awareness of your work and its results to a wider audience.
Trade journals have a different set of requirements and expectations than academic journals. You’ll need to present your research in a way that is relevant and interesting to practitioners and other nonacademic audiences.
Join us April 18 to learn all about “Crafting a Pitch for a Trade Journal.” This CARISCA Training workshop, presented by the executive editor of CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly, will cover key elements of a pitch, providing a hook, how to provide samples, and etiquette for following up.
About the presenter:

Susan Lacefield has served as executive editor of the award-winning official magazine of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) for the past five years. In this role, she serves as the primary curator of the publication’s content. She solicits and edits articles from supply chain management subject matter experts, helping them to shape their thought leadership for an audience of supply chain managers and executives.
Lacefield was one of the founding members of the magazine in 2007. She served as senior editor and editor-at-large before becoming executive editor.
Prior to joining Supply Chain Quarterly, she worked at Supply Chain Management Review. Lacefield holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Virginia and bachelor’s degrees in English and history from the College of William & Mary, also in Virginia.

Distinguished Lecture Series: Startups in the Supply Chain Ecosystem—Practice and Research
2023-04-20 17:00 - 18:30
Startups in the Supply Chain Ecosystem—Practice and Research
Startups are associated with innovation, emerging technologies, digitalization and disruptive business models. Therefore, more and more corporates are urged to access innovations that increase the competitiveness of products or productivity of processes.
The scholarly supply chain, logistics and operations management literature has up to now paid little attention to startups’ role in the supply chain ecosystem. Through his lecture on April 20, Stephan Wagner aims to motivate researchers, both in Africa and other parts of the world, to take up projects at this OM–entrepreneurship interface.
Wagner, a professor of supply chain management at ETH Zurich, will discuss research that has already shed light on different modes of corporate–startup interaction, or on the capabilities buying firms need to build up in order to identify, select and integrate startup suppliers.
The talk will also reveal the opportunities and challenges of publishing research at the OM–entrepreneurship interface.
Speaker Biography:
Stephan M. Wagner is a professor of supply chain management at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). He holds the Chair of Logistics Management and is the founder and director of the HumOSCM Lab.
Wagner is an active researcher and an advisor to several supply chain startups. He serves as an editor for five academic journals. He also is author and editor of 13 books and 150 book chapters and articles.
His award-winning research has been published in numerous journals on management, operations management and methods. Wagner’s work has particular emphasis on strategy, networks and relationships, risk, innovation, digitalization, entrepreneurship, sustainability and humanitarian operations.

Supply Chain Action Network (SCAN) meeting
2023-05-04
“Supply Chain Traceability: Improving Africa’s Agriculture and Health Sectors”

Supply chain traceability is the key to unlocking the potential of Africa’s agricultural and health sectors. It involves establishing transparent and efficient processes to track and verify the movement of goods throughout the supply chain, from production to consumption.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of Africa’s economies, embracing supply chain traceability is a crucial step that can provide numerous benefits. In both the agriculture and health sectors, it can help ensure product safety, quality and compliance with regulatory standards.
On May 4, the Supply Chain Action Network (SCAN) will convene to explore the possibilities for enhancing supply chain traceability to improve Africa’s agricultural and health sectors. The discussions will explore adopting cutting-edge technologies and establishing effective cross-sector collaborations to enhance supply chain traceability.
Integrating innovative technologies, such as blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), holds immense promise for improving traceability within Africa’s supply chains. These digital solutions can enable real-time tracking of products, ensuring authenticity and reducing the risk of fraud, counterfeiting and foodborne illnesses.
Furthermore, by leveraging these technologies, businesses can enhance efficiency, minimize waste, and better manage their resources. The ultimate outcome is increased profits.
Collaboration is another essential aspect of supply chain traceability. Bringing together stakeholders from different sectors can help create an enabling environment for implementing traceability initiatives.
By working together, these actors can establish harmonized regulatory frameworks, share best practices, and develop public-private partnerships to bolster investment in traceability infrastructure and capacity building.
The upcoming Supply Chain Action Network (SCAN) event will serve as a platform for thought leaders, policymakers and industry experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding supply chain traceability in Africa’s agricultural and health sectors.
By sharing knowledge, expertise, and experiences, participants can identify practical solutions and strategies that can be implemented across the continent to foster a more transparent, efficient and resilient supply chain ecosystem.
Join us on May 4 to learn more about the transformative potential of supply chain traceability and contribute to shaping a sustainable future for Africa’s agriculture and health sectors. The day will include two presentations followed by Q&A, lunch, a panel discussion and breakout sessions.
Meet the presenters:

Stephen Acheampong is a seasoned sustainability professional with over 15 years of diversified hands-on experience in global assurance systems such as organic certification, sustainable agriculture standards and Fairtrade compliance systems.
He currently works for the Rainforest Alliance as the senior officer for certification bodies monitoring in charge of Africa.
During his presentation, Acheampong will focus on the agriculture sector, examining the significance of traceability in ensuring food safety, reducing waste and supporting sustainable practices. He will share successful case studies from across the continent, demonstrating how traceability has improved productivity, market access and profitability for African farmers.

Resilinc CEO Bindiya Vakil is credited with bringing supply chain risk management into the mainstream. She has helped transform the way global organizations approach supply chain visibility and risk.
She was named Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s inaugural Woman of the Year and has appeared on nationally syndicated TV, radio and print media speaking on the topic of supply chain resiliency.
Vakil will cover how supply chain mapping is helping companies better understand the health care supply chain landscape and who the players are, down to the supplier, site and part level.

Qualitative Data Analysis and Report Writing
2023-05-22
Qualitative research allows for exploration of how and why phenomena happen, such as why people behave the way they do, compared to quantitative research, which tells us the size and scope of these behaviors. But the data qualitative research generates is often unstructured.
To interpret and derive meaningful insights from the data, qualitative researchers apply structured methods and use special analytics tools. NVivo is one tool that helps researchers organize, analyze and visualize qualitative data in an efficient and effective way.
If you are working with qualitative data, join us May 22 to learn how to use NVivo to facilitate your data analysis. At this CARISCA Training Series workshop, the presenters will take you on a journey to learn how to create your codebook, code and analyze qualitative data, and make a story out of it.
They will take you through the process of setting up your project, importing your data, coding your data, and exporting your data in order to write your report.
This training is for anyone who is working with qualitative data, including students. Even if you are new to NVivo and analyzing qualitative data, you should find this workshop useful.
About the presenters:

Kekeli Adonu is the research and training coordinator for CARISCA and a social scientist specializing in social protection, quantitative and qualitative analyses in the fields of child wellbeing and poverty. Before joining CARISCA, she worked for DataPlas Ltd., the Population Council and Social Policy Research Institute.
Adonu holds a master’s degree in social protection financing from the University of Mauritius and a bachelor’s degree in economics from KNUST.

Roseanne Schuster is a senior technical advisor for CARISCA and co-lead of the access and inclusion component of the project. She also is an assistant research scientist for Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change and program lead for the master’s in global health program.
Schuster holds a PhD in international nutrition from Cornell University, a master’s in community health sciences from the University of Northern British Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Canisius College.

Ghana Logistics Managers Index Webinar
2023-05-23 15:00 - 17:00
Ghanaian logistics activities have weathered the storms of a near recession mid-2022 and have been resilient in the face of a challenging operating environment. Results from the 2023 first quarter Logistics Managers Index report reveal optimism that the logistics sector is rebounding.
Join us May 23 to hear more results from the latest survey of Ghanaian logistics managers and gain critical insights from the LMI researchers.
The Logistics Managers Index is a tool CARISCA created in 2022 to support decision-makers and improve businesses and livelihoods in Africa. By measuring combinations of inventory, warehouse and transportation activities and tracking the relationship between these variables, the LMI provides a timely measure of movement in logistics activities in Ghana.
The Ghana LMI is the first of its kind in Africa, and a significant step toward supply chain efficiency, visibility and transparency in the country.
The LMI measures the quarterly growth or decline of Ghana’s logistics industry based on eight key components:

Inventory levels
Inventory costs
Warehousing capacity
Warehousing utilization

Warehousing prices
Transportation capacity
Transportation utilization
Transportation prices

The full 2023 first quarter report will be released in early May, prior to the webinar. Visit the LMI website to learn more and download past reports.

Supply Chain Analytics
2023-05-24 - 2023-05-26
Given the importance of the supply chain to organizations across the globe, businesses are looking for opportunities to make processes faster, cheaper and easier as materials move from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Supply chains involve many different activities, people and organizations, which produce a vast amount of information. This overwhelming amount of data has to be processed and converted into forms that influence key decisions and lead to better results. Supply chain analytics uses data analytical tools to manage and improve supply chain functions, such as demand planning, order processing and inventory control, and risk management. This workshop will build the capacity of supply chain practitioners and service providers in both the public and private sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, to use big data to support supply chain management decisions.
What will you learn?
In this workshop, you will apply various techniques to analyze, model and visualize several aspects of operations, procurement, logistics and supply chain. Additionally, you will model various supply chain analytics on dashboards to solve industry-related problems. You will use analytical platforms and tools such as Microsoft Power BI, Python and R Studio to model the various supply chain analytics.

2023 Pre-Conference Paper Development Workshop
2023-06-19 09:00 - 16:00 | FIESTA ROYALE HOTEL, ACCRA
Call for Applications
Faculty and senior doctoral candidates from higher education institutions (HEI) in Africa are invited to participate in a special Paper Development Workshop, a pre-conference session of our annual Supply Chain Research Summit.
The workshop will be held in person at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra, Ghana, on Monday, June 19, 2023, 9 am – 4 pm GMT.
The number of seats for the program is limited. To be eligible, you must be a faculty or senior doctoral student in an African HEI, register for the conference, have a complete or near-complete research paper, and commit to attending the summit in person. The same paper may be submitted for presentation at the conference but does not have to be.
The Paper Development Workshop aims to create a platform for faculty and senior doctoral candidates to meet with and seek professional advice from senior supply chain scholars on a specific academic research paper. It should be a paper you are currently working on at an advanced stage for submission or ready to be submitted to an academic journal.
One-to-one feedback will be provided in a safe environment. Participants will also be able to engage with senior colleagues in more focused discussions.
The workshop is fully supported by the Center for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain – Africa (CARISCA); there is no cost to attendees. However, only applicants who have fully registered for and committed to attending the main summit in person will be considered.
Application Deadline:
Friday, April 14, 2023
Accepted participants will be notified by April 28, 2023.
Questions?
Email Adegoke Oke at Adegoke.Oke@asu.edu
Apply for Paper Development Workshop Here

2023 Supply Chain Research Summit
2023-06-20 - 2023-06-22 | FIESTA ROYALE HOTEL, ACCRA
Africa’s Supply Chains and the Future of Work
CARISCA’s third annual Supply Chain Research Summit, Africa’s Supply Chains and the Future of Work, is scheduled for June 20-22, 2023. The summit will be a hybrid event featuring in-person and virtual presentations. In-person sessions will be held in Accra, Ghana, at the Fiesta Royale Hotel; virtual sessions will be held via Zoom.
Registration fees are covered courtesy of CARISCA. In-person attendees will be responsible for their own transportation and lodging. Visit the summit website for more details.

The planned tracks and topics include:
Theme Track: Africa’s Supply Chains and the Future of Work

Employability skills for Africa’s future supply chains
Workplace designs for Africa’s supply chains

Track One: General Supply Chains

Logistics and transportation management
Procurement, sourcing and supply chain management
Manufacturing and production management

Track Two: Sectoral Supply Chains

Health/pharmaceutical supply chain
Humanitarian operations and disaster management
Agriculture and commodities supply chain

Track Three: Emerging Issues in Global Supply Chains

Globalization and supply chains
Sustainability issues in supply chains
Emerging technologies in supply chains including blockchain technology, big data analytics, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence
Global supply chains and grand challenges

Track Four: Practitioner and Policy Discourse on African Supply Chains

Supply chain financing
Health supply chain policy
Supply chain technology trends in Africa

Get event updates
Please subscribe to the CARISCA mailing list to receive event updates.
About CARISCA
The Center for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain – Africa (CARISCA) is a partnership between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Arizona State University (ASU) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
CARISCA’s key objective is to support higher education institutions in building the capacity necessary to provide best-in-class degree programs and training, facilitate research translation and utilization, and engage stakeholders in best practices and policy changes that strengthen supply chains.

Continuing Professional Development in Supervisory Skills for Procurement and Supply Chain Managers
2023-07-27 - 2023-07-28
Supervisory Skills for Procurement and Supply Chain Managers
The procurement and supply chain management landscape is fast changing, and managers need to develop not only the hard skills but also soft skills to effectively manage these changes. As the purchasing manager, you are responsible for leading and managing staff as well as all operational activities in this changing environment. This course provides insight on the appropriate skills for effective supervision of procurement and supply chain functions. Through practical exercises and case studies, it will also help you develop those skills and techniques. The fast-changing environment is changing the industry landscape and affecting the individual’s skills. Nowadays, the business environment has changed and new jobs emerged. With these new jobs, new skills emerge and they have not received much attention yet. In addition, the purchasing manager is responsible for leading and managing the purchasing department’s staff.
This workshop aims to equip participants with soft skills needed to manage the supply chain function. These skills include communication, motivation, negotiation and problem-solving. You will also learn how to design and implement policies and procedures, handle reporting and manage performance. Lastly, you will be equipped to manage the procurement and supply chain staff for improved performance.
Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/CPD-in-Supervisoryskills

Distinguished Lecture Series
2023-08-24
Dare to Cheat? The Liabilities of Newness and Foreignness in Containing Sustainability Fraud in China

Distinguished Lecture Series - Nathaniel Boso
2023-09-15
Register Now

In many developing markets, a robust trade in counterfeit and pirated goods threatens the viability of legitimate business activities. Some of the sectors most affected are processed foods, appliances, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.
About 10% of medical products in low- and middle-income countries are counterfeit, according to the World Health Organization. In Ghana, up to 30% of all medicines on the market are fake. And the Ghana Standards Authority has observed that over 70% of imported electrical cables were substandard and a major cause of fire outbreaks.
Widespread poverty in major urban communities is a contributing factor, as it erodes the negative stigma associated with consumption of illicit goods. Weak intellectual property protections and an inefficient law-enforcement system exacerbate the problem.
Despite government policies meant to encourage investments by multinational enterprises, the prevalence of counterfeit goods discourages legitimate businesses from expanding to these markets.
On September 15, Nathaniel Boso, professor of international marketing and strategy at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), will talk about what governments can do to alleviate this roadblock to investment.
“Now, they offer juicy incentives in the form of tax breaks, lower interest rates, friendly trade policies, deregulation and grants, loans and subsidies,” Boso says. “An alternative strategy is to encourage local subsidiaries of multinational enterprises to establish ties with the national government itself, local chieftains and religious institutions. Such ties are associated with growth in sales and profit.”
In his lecture, Boso will present findings from his studies of nearly 650 multinational subsidiaries operating in 23 sub-Saharan African countries.
The research shows these companies can gain advantages in the host African countries by mobilizing leaders from multiple political and cultural institutions. In fact, he found that the more dysfunctional the host country institutions become, the greater the impact these relationships have on the subsidiaries’ performance.
About the speaker:

Nathaniel Boso

Nathaniel Boso has won multiple international awards for his scholarship. Notably, in 2021, his article “(How) Does Africa Matter for International Business Scholarship?” won the Academy of International Business Insight Outstanding Article Award. In 2019, he was recognized for authoring the paper in the Journal of International Marketing that made the most significant contribution to the advancement of international marketing management that year.
His research focuses on the interface between international entrepreneurship, industrial marketing and supply chain strategy. It has been published in numerous high-impact journals such as Journal of Business Venturing, International Journal of Production Economics and Journal of International Business Studies.
In addition to being an award-winning scholar, Boso holds multiple academic titles and administrative appointments. Among these are the prestigious OR Tambo Africa Research Chair, dean of the KNUST School of Business and director of CARISCA. He also holds positions as Extraordinary Professor of International Business at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and visiting professor at Strathmore University in Kenya.

CPD - Sustainable Reverse Logistics in the Digital Age
2023-11-08 - 2023-11-09 | Ghana Shippers’ Authority, 7th Floor, Ghana Shippers’ House No. 12, Cruickshank Street Ambassadorial Enclave, West Ridge, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
In today’s digital age, businesses are embracing technology to enhance their operations. With increasing sustainability requirements, regulations, and consumer preferences, reverse logistics has become increasingly complex and crucial. Companies worldwide recognize the strategic importance of integrating sustainability into their reverse logistics, but they face challenges in aligning economic goals with environmental and social objectives. Learn more about reverse logistics by joining CARISCA’s continuing professional development course in “Sustainable Reverse Logistics in the Digital Age.” This CPD is accredited and co-hosted with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). Schedule: Nov. 8, 2023 : Reverse Logistics and its Significance in the business environment Nov. 9, 2023: Strategies and Tools for Effective Reverse Logistics Mode: Hybrid (Attend in-person at the Ghana Shippers’ Authority or virtually via zoom) By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

Build a business case a sustainable reverse logistics
Evaluate the environmental, economic, and social benefits of integrating sustainability into reverse logistics.
Assess industry-specific challenges and develop strategies for implementing sustainable reverse logistics in their respective domains.
Highlight successful strategies and techniques currently used by businesses to merge sustainability and reverse logistics seamlessly
Identify and utilize key technological tools, platforms, and methodologies that support sustainable reverse logistics.
Formulate actionable plans to integrate or enhance sustainable reverse logistics in their respective organizations or businesses.
Design key metrics to measure the performance of reverse logistics activities in the supply chain.

Learn more and register

Research Capacity-Building Workshop
2023-11-08 - 2023-11-09
Register: https://bit.ly/CARISCA-FW112023
Panel data, or longitudinal data, enables researchers to make observations across time for different groups, such as individuals, companies or countries. It has a number of advantages over other research methods.
Like time-series data, panel data includes observations collected at regular intervals, chronologically. An advantage of panel data over a single time series is that it can minimize estimation biases.
Like cross-sectional data, panel data contains observations across a collection of subjects. It also can detect and measure statistical effects that pure time series or cross-sectional data cannot.
Another advantage is that panel data contains more information, more variability and more efficiency than pure time series data or cross-sectional data.
Learn more about using panel data in supply chain management research by joining us Nov. 8 and 9 for a faculty workshop led by Sangho Chae, associate professor of operations management at Warwick Business School in England.
On the first day of the workshop, Chae will share potential sources of panel data for operations and supply chain management research. He also will explain how to identify other data sources and provide an example of how to extract data from these sources.
On the second day, participants will work in groups to identify sources of panel data for research questions they have suggested. Each group will then give a presentation on how they would go about accessing and utilizing those data sources to address the research question.
About the facilitator:
Sangho Chae joined the University of Warwick business faculty in August 2023. Previously, he held academic positions at Tilburg University and Marquette University. He earned his PhD in supply chain management from Arizona State University in 2017.
Chae’s research focuses on supply network structures and their implications for innovation, supply risk and sustainability. His research interests also include factors that bring changes to supply network structures.
He has been published in the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management and Journal of Business Logistics, among others. Several of his published studies leverage panel data analysis, incorporating diverse data sources including FactSet, Panjiva, Refinitiv and Compustat.
Chae currently serves an associate editor of the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management and International Journal of Operations & Production Management.

Partnership Coordination Committee meeting
2023-11-29
The Partnership Coordination Committee (PCC) coordinates CARISCA activities with partner organizations, stakeholders, and individuals. The goal is to create and sustain long-term relationships that support innovative practices to solve local, national and regional supply chain challenges in Africa. The Committee guides CARISCA leadership in exploring opportunities to advance CARISCA’s goals, and how to address key challenges facing CARISCA.
The next PCC meeting is scheduled for November 29, 2023.

Writing Business Cases With an African Context - CARISCA Training Series
2023-12-04 09:00 - 16:00
Cases are a great tool to use in class to teach difficult and complex supply chain issues. Supply chain problems are not generally solvable by simply applying an algorithm that provides answers to difficult questions or challenges.
Most published business cases have an American or European context and ignore the realities of Ghanaian and African supply chain managers. On Dec. 4, CARISCA Executive Director Dale S. Rogers will host an interactive workshop on developing and writing business cases with an African context, in person in Ghana.
Attendees will work together to actually produce cases that can be used in a supply chain course. The cases will cover a range of areas including product rollout, procurement, manufacturing, demand management, supply networks, logistics and other areas of interest to attendees.

About the presenter:

Dale S. Rogers is the ON Semiconductor Professor of Business at Arizona State University and a leading researcher in the fields of reverse logistics, sustainable supply chain management, supply chain finance and secondary markets.
He has authored four books, seven monographs, nearly 30 book chapters, six published cases and 50 refereed journal articles.
In addition to his faculty role, Rogers has extensive experience working with the business sector. He has made more than 400 presentations to professional organizations and taught in executive education programs in the United States, Africa, China, Europe and South America.
Rogers has been inducted into the Council of Supply Chain Management Hall of Fame and the Brazilian Supply Chain Hall of Fame. He also has received distinguished service awards from several industry groups for his impact on the field of supply chain management.

Defending Your Thesis at Viva - CARISCA Training Series
2023-12-08 16:00 - 18:00
A thesis defense is a pivotal moment for doctoral candidates. It carries immense significance and is often associated with anxiety and subpar performance.
But doctoral candidates must learn how to navigate this critical stage. A successful thesis defense not only signifies academic achievement but also prepares students for the challenges of academia and beyond.
In an increasingly competitive academic landscape, the ability to effectively present and defend one’s work is a critical skill that can greatly impact a researcher’s career trajectory.
This training will give doctoral candidates valuable insights, strategies and practical guidance for defending their research. It addresses the academic rigor as well as the psychological and interpersonal aspects of the defense.
The aim is to help candidates emerge from the experience with confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
The training covers three topics:

Designing an effective thesis presentation
Delivering a quality thesis presentation
Preparing for and managing the thesis Q&A session

About the facilitators:

Nathaniel Boso has taken the lead in designing and teaching PhD courses, supervising more than 20 PhD students and examining numerous PhD theses both in Ghana and internationally.
He holds the O.R. Tambo Africa Research Chair of Entrepreneurship and Employability at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He also is a professor of international marketing and strategy at KNUST and Extraordinary Professor at University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science in South Africa.
Boso’s research interests span international entrepreneurship, marketing and supply chain strategies. His work has appeared in such publications as Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Product Innovation Management and Journal of World Business.
He sits on the editorial review board of International Marketing Review and Africa Journal of Management as an associate editor.

Dominic Essuman is a lecturer in sustainable management at the University of Shefﬁeld, United Kingdom. His research interests revolve around supply chain strategy, resilience and sustainability.
He boasts extensive experience in training, mentoring and supervising PhD students. Essuman has collaborated with Boso to teach PhD students in Ghana and Kenya.
Additionally, he has successfully supervised five doctoral, five MPhil, and 42 MBA/MSc theses. This involves preparing the students for their thesis defense and actively participating in the defenses.
Essuman also possesses expertise in various aspects of research development, manuscript writing and the publication process. He has presented his work both locally and internationally.
His research has been published in top-tier academic journals, including the International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of International Business Studies and Journal of Business Logistics.
He is a graduate of KNUST with a PhD in logistics and supply chain management.ing

Distinguished Lecture Series - Research-based Innovation in Africa
2024-02-15
If Africa is to capture value from the global shift to a digital economy, research and innovation skills should take priority. Africa will never be able to compete in automation with the likes of the USA, U.K., China and India unless education and business succeed together.
If more scholars were to translate their research into business innovations, they could transform Africa, contends Marcia Mkansi, our Distinguished Lecture Series speaker for Feb. 15.
Universities are gold mines for local solutions. Mkansi says it is crucial that scholars re-imagine research beyond publication to include innovation.
It also is critical for researchers to extend their partnerships across the African continent, through projects at the local, national and continental level. Only in this way will sufficient knowledge, industrialization and learnings be gathered and shared.
Such partnerships are necessary for Africa’s economic diversification and resilience. The African Union Agenda 2063 aims to pursue inclusive growth and sustainable development within an integrated African continent.
In her lecture, Mkansi, a professor at the University of South Africa, will talk about optimizing research-based intellectual property to address sustainable development challenges.
Specific challenges she will discuss include green innovation and technology that supports well-being and sustainability. Her talk also will cover modeling and data development policy for economic and supply chain transformations toward sustainability.
About the speaker:
Marcia Mkansi is head of research, post-graduate studies, innovation and commercialization for the College of Economics and Management Sciences at the University of South Africa. She also is a prolific innovator, with a focus on societal research and human capital development.
In 2021, a mobile app she developed to track malaria drug stocks reached the semi-finals of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology global solver challenge.
The prior year, her Research Methods Index innovation earned second place in the European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies. The index helps graduate students select a best-fit research framework based on their attributes, philosophies and paradigms.
Also in 2020, she was named “Most Prolific Innovator Over the Past Five Years” at her university. She made six disclosures in that period, mostly for software-related innovations intended to improve supply and distribution networks.
Mkansi holds a PhD in supply chain management and electronic business from the University of Bolton in the U.K.

Supply Chain Action Network Meeting
2024-04-08
Register Now

In today’s fast-paced global economy, the integration of data analytics and fintech into supply chain management represents a transformative leap forward. The urgency and necessity of this integration are underscored by the growing complexity of global supply chains, the need for inclusive economic growth, and the pressing demands of environmental sustainability.
As businesses strive to remain competitive, the role of fintech in enabling access to capital, particularly for marginalized or underrepresented groups, becomes crucial. Simultaneously, navigating the intricate regulatory environments and ensuring compliance, optimizing supplier performance, and managing expenditures without compromising on sustainability objectives are paramount challenges that demand innovative solutions.
On April 8, CARISCA will convene a Supply Chain Action Network (SCAN) meeting to shine a spotlight on harnessing these technologies to unlock unprecedented efficiency, enhance financial inclusion and promote sustainability within the supply chain ecosystem. This event serves as a crucial platform for stakeholders across the spectrum to collaborate on, learn and pioneer strategies that will define the future of supply chain management.
The full-day SCAN meeting will feature two keynote speakers, a panel discussion and breakout group sessions, with plenty of time for Q&A. The agenda also includes a lunch break and brief presentations on CARISCA, Strathmore University Business School and the Kenya Institute of Supplies Management, which are collaborating on the event.
The two keynote speakers, Maurice Mashiwa from Serano Africa and Vincent Omwenga from Strathmore University, will address the meeting topic through the lens of agriculture and healthcare, respectively. Panel discussions and breakout sessions will cover a number of sub-themes:
FinTech and AGPO Financial Inclusion: The crucial role of fintech companies in championing Affirmative Action for Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO).
Navigating Regulatory Environment and Compliance: Insights on utilizing data analytics for compliance with global standards, risk mitigation, and building stakeholder trust.
Supplier Performance and Spend Management: How to evaluate supplier performance and fine-tune expenditure management via sophisticated analytics.
Sustainability: How leveraging fintech and data analytics can support the monitoring and minimization of carbon emissions, promote ethical sourcing, and encourage sustainable consumption behaviors.
Through these focused discussions, the SCAN event aspires to arm participants with the insights and instruments required to adeptly navigate the complexities and seize the opportunities brought forth by the integration of data analytics and fintech into supply chain management.
The ultimate ambition is to cultivate a culture of innovation, inclusivity and sustainability that not only drives business success but also contributes significantly to the welfare of the wider community.

CPD - Supply Chain Analytics
2024-04-11 - 2024-04-12
Learn more: https://carisca.knust.edu.gh/training/cpd/
Given the importance of the supply chain to organizations across the globe, businesses are looking for opportunities to make processes faster, cheaper and easier as materials move from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Supply chains involve many different activities, people and organizations, which produce a vast amount of information.
This overwhelming amount of data has to be processed and converted into forms that influence key decisions and lead to better results. Supply chain analytics uses data analytical tools to manage and improve supply chain functions, such as demand planning, order processing and inventory control, and risk management.
Join CARISCA’s two-day Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course on Supply Chain Analytics, co-hosted and accredited by the Kenya Institute of Supplies Management (KISM), Kenya.
Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your skills and network with industry peers.

Learn more: https://carisca.knust.edu.gh/training/cpd/

Distinguished Lecture Series - Nannette Atuahene
2024-05-22 17:00 - 18:30
Join us May 22 for the next event in our Distinguished Lecture Series. On Our Watch Global founder Nannette Atuahene will talk about “Building a Future-Ready Supply Chain Industry.”
5-6:30 p.m. GMT / 10-11:30 a.m. PDT and MST

Register Now

COVID laid bare the vulnerability of the supply chain industry, when the whole world virtually shut down. At the same time, a big disconnection was revealed among researchers, practitioners and policymakers with regard to supply chain issues.
The key to building a future-ready supply chain industry lies in the untapped potential that comes from creating synergy among these groups. That is the topic of the next event in our Distinguished Lecture Series, on Wednesday, May 22.
Nannette Atuahene, a leadership and organizational effectiveness consultant who splits her time between Ghana and the U.S., will deliver the lecture.
“When we are faced with many problems, many opportunities exist to solve them,” says Atuahene. “The question is, how do we set up effective and efficient communication systems between academia, industry and policymakers to bolster innovation, solutions and an upgraded supply chain industry?”
Her May 22 lecture will look at the challenges that currently exist in the supply chain industry, in academia, practice and policymaking. It will address how to overcome those challenges and the opportunities for practitioners, academia and policymakers to work together to move the supply chain industry forward.
Attendees will receive practical tips on how to create, obtain and utilize data and case studies to move your research and businesses forward. You also will learn how to create effective synergies among academia, practitioners and policymakers.
About the speaker:
Nannette Atuahene was born and raised in the United States to a mother and father who were from Kumasi, Ghana. As an adult, she splits the year between living in Ghana and California.
She is a real estate investor and broker and founder of On Our Watch Global, LLC, a leadership development and organizational effectiveness consultancy. She also contributes her time and expertise to the community, primarily by empowering youth on the streets of Ghana and working with several Ghanaian NGOs.

2024 Pre-Conference Paper Development Workshop
2024-06-03
Selected faculty and senior doctoral candidates from higher education institutions (HEIs) in Africa will participate in a special Paper Development Workshop, a pre-conference session of our annual Supply Chain Research Summit.
The workshop will be held in person at Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra, Ghana, on Monday, June 3, 2024.
The number of seats for the program is limited. To be eligible, you must be a faculty or senior doctoral student in an African HEI, register for the conference, have a complete or near-complete research paper, and commit to attending the summit in person. The same paper may be submitted for presentation at the conference but does not have to be.
The goal of the Paper Development Workshop is to create a platform for faculty and senior doctoral candidates to meet with and seek professional advice from senior supply chain scholars on a specific academic research paper. It should be a paper you are currently working on that is at an advanced stage for submission or ready to be submitted to an academic journal.
Feedback will be provided in a safe environment. Participants will also be able to engage with senior colleagues in more focused discussions.
The workshop is fully supported by the Center for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain – Africa (CARISCA); there is no cost to attendees. However, only applicants who have fully registered for and committed to attend the main summit in person will be considered.
Application Deadline:
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Questions?
Contact Kekeli Adonu at lkadonu@carisca.knust.edu.gh or Barby Grant at barby.grant@asu.edu

Apply for Paper Development Workshop

2024 Supply Chain Research Summit
2024-06-04 - 2024-06-06
On June 4-6, 2024, CARISCA will host the fourth annual Supply Chain Research Summit, in Accra, Ghana. The 2023 summit in Accra, Ghana, attracted 688 participants from 41 countries and featured more than 90 presenters.
The conference brings together academic and non-academic researchers and public, private and civil society organizations to create an ongoing dialogue addressing complex supply chain challenges. This year’s summit will once again adopt a hybrid model, allowing for both in-person and virtual attendance
The in-person venue is the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra. Attendees and speakers may also participate virtually via Zoom.
The summit will take an in-depth look at how to build resilience in Africa’s supply chains for economic transformation. Resilient supply chains are vital for the success of businesses and societies.
Given the frequent and costly supply chain disruptions in Africa, increased investment in supply chain resilience on the continent is a pressing need. Current proposals for addressing these issues are primarily at the macro level and often lack solid grounding in theory-validated frameworks.
Furthermore, while studies on the drivers of supply chain resilience are growing rapidly, research specific to African supply chains remains limited.
Addressing these supply chain resilience themes requires a forum such as the 2024 Supply Chain Research Summit. There, supply chain scholars will brainstorm and share ideas on how Africa’s supply chains can be repositioned to drive the continent’s economic transformation agenda.

Faculty Workshop
2024-06-19 - 2024-06-20
Wednesday-Thursday, June 19-20
Faculty Workshop
Computational Modeling
